Nagato Feels This Wave Wasn't a Loss

"Honestly, isn't the title 'One-Eyed King' much more imposing than those Sannin of Konoha?"

After Nagato grumbled, he didn't dwell on it. He stood up as if nothing had happened and said, "I'll leave Konan's subsequent training to you. Don't let me catch you holding anything back!"

The garbage Jiraiya taught her in the past meant that even now, Konan didn't have a single decent ultimate move and relied entirely on Explosive Tags in a fight. He couldn't let her be swindled again this time.

Tsunade waved her hand impatiently, signaling that she wasn't that kind of person. Besides, she had already profited from the deal, so she wouldn't be petty enough to do something like that.

With that, Nagato nodded, turned around with a smile on his face, and slowly walked out of the room.

I wonder what that old hag is thinking, actually agreeing to work for me for free? She probably doesn't realize that the intelligence of the Akatsuki is practically worthless. If I hadn't interrupted Obito's plan, that Uchiha idiot would have already shouted everything out for the whole world to hear...

Does the Akatsuki have any secrets left that can't be seen by others? Not really. She can ask whatever she wants; this deal is a complete win.

Nagato wasn't actually surprised that Tsunade eventually agreed to join the Akatsuki.

The title of the "Sannin of Konoha" shared by her, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru was bestowed upon them by Hanzo in a humiliating manner when they were defeated in Amegakure. Hanzo's exact words at the time were: "I shall grant you the title of the Sannin of Konoha. Give me your names, and let that be the price for your lives."

Such words were only slightly better than what Itachi said to Sasuke: "Struggle, cling to life." In essence, wasn't it just making them obediently accept their dog tags?

Therefore, the idea that Tsunade wouldn't yield under threat was merely an illusion. If she truly didn't know how to yield, she would have died at Hanzo's hands long ago.

Orochimaru, who claimed to be the person in this world who understood Tsunade best, had also once tried to threaten her into healing his hands, which spoke volumes.

Nagato didn't consider himself a person who liked to use violence to coerce opponents, though he knew no one would believe him if he said that.

But the reason he had the confidence to poach Tsunade wasn't just because she was his captive with no other choice. It was even more because he knew how terrible her relationship with Konoha was.

Most people in this world only knew her as the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, the princess of the Senju clan, and one of the Sannin, but they didn't know the state of mind she was in when she left Konoha to wander the Shinobi World for over a decade.

Nagato certainly didn't know these details either, but as a transmigrator, he knew the firm refusal she gave when Jiraiya found her to ask her to become the Fifth Hokage, and the choice she likely would have made regarding Orochimaru's deal if Naruto hadn't used Talk no Jutsu on her.

Jiraiya had been prepared to kill Tsunade at that time. Orochimaru's remark that "the Hokage is just a piece of trash, only an idiot would want to be Hokage" was basically identical to what Tsunade said when she rejected Jiraiya's offer to take the position.

People in this world cannot be distinguished by simple right or wrong. It is very presumptuous to assume that because certain things can be done by some, they absolutely cannot be done by others.

During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Tsunade said to Orochimaru, who had come to save the Five Kage: "If you had changed like this sooner, Jiraiya wouldn't have died."

Orochimaru's reply was: "If that were the case, perhaps Jiraiya would have changed as well."

The Sannin of Konoha shared a commonality in their ideologies; they just often made different choices when faced with the same situation.

This was also why Nagato favored Tsunade. What this old woman said—"Resentment is a desecration of the sacrifices made by comrades"—really resonated with him. In his view, only someone like Tsunade was fit to be considered a comrade.

Although he couldn't trust Tsunade the way he trusted Konan, rather than risking a backstab by dealing with the Uchiha, it was better to recruit more people like Tsunade into the organization.

Orochimaru was obsessed with forbidden jutsu to the point of attacking Konoha, but the initial reason was simply that his parents had been killed. Tsunade's entire clan had been wiped out, yet she never turned into a freak like Orochimaru. The reason Madara Uchiha and his successor, Obito Uchiha, wanted revenge on the Uchiha clan was simply because they felt those people with the "red-eye disease" had betrayed Madara, their clan leader, by not leaving Konoha with him.

By comparison, what Konoha did to Tsunade, their Hokage, was far worse, yet she never harbored any resentment.

One must remember she was the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, who fought to the very end against Pain and his paths, but what was the result? The emperor went to the front lines, and the ministers usurped the throne. The moment she was captured by Pain, Konoha immediately selected a Sixth Hokage and ignored their former leader. How was this behavior any different from betrayal?

If she were a more selfish person, she wouldn't have needed Nagato's persuasion; she would have been crying and begging to join the Akatsuki to take revenge on Konoha.

Moreover, Nagato was very clear that although Tsunade was the Fifth Hokage and the princess of the Senju clan, her glory was only on the surface. In private, she had long been at odds with Konoha.

In the original timeline, even if she had eventually defeated Pain with Naruto's help and the people of Konoha had been resurrected by Nagato's Samsara of Heavenly Life, her position as Hokage was still lost, and she was usurped by Danzo Shimura while in a coma. If Sasuke hadn't cut Danzo down, what leverage did she, the Fifth Hokage, have to compete with him?

The conflict between Tsunade and the higher-ups had actually deteriorated to the extreme.

When Pain attacked Konoha, she was still having a heated argument with the two advisors of Konoha over whether Naruto should participate in the battle. The result was that Danzo walked straight into the Hokage Office and killed the toad messenger from Mount Myoboku.

Danzo was a person groomed by the Konoha higher-ups specifically to deal with her, a fact Tsunade knew perfectly well.

Because Danzo had hated Tsunade, the granddaughter of the First Hokage, from the very beginning, and he never hid his attitude toward the Third Hokage or Tsunade.

That was why he had been suppressed by the Third Hokage and lost power for a time. And for the same reason, he was able to make a comeback and regain his influence. It was all a result of the deteriorating relationship between the Konoha higher-ups and Tsunade.

Tsunade is the Senju princess? Infinite glory? A joke. Danzo said right in front of Sakura and Tsunade that he hoped Yamato wouldn't be influenced by the cowardly Third Hokage, just as the Third Hokage had been influenced by her grandfather. The remark was aimed directly at her grandfather, Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage. What could Tsunade say as Hokage? She couldn't say a damn thing; she could only glare at Danzo.

When Pain attacked Konoha, Danzo led Root to hide underground, leaving Tsunade to sacrifice herself. No matter how you look at it, this was a blatant betrayal, yet he was able to become Hokage based on such actions. Who would believe that wasn't tacitly approved by the higher-ups?

Did the Konoha higher-ups not know what Danzo was doing? Were they blind, unable to see whether Danzo participated in the battle or not?

This behavior was merely a tacit, mutual betrayal. The world only knows the Third Hokage was cowardly and Danzo Shimura was sinister, but they don't know that the advisors, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, were the most despicable of the two.

Because these two were roughly the same age as the Third Hokage and Danzo, all former teammates who studied under the Second Hokage, yet they never did anything for Konoha in times of crisis.

The Third Hokage could die gloriously for Konoha. Danzo could become the scapegoat of the Shinobi World for Konoha. What did the advisors Koharu and Homura do? They just hid to protect themselves whenever trouble hit Konoha, only to emerge to fight for power once the storm had passed.

These people had long since rotted, accustomed to enjoying power but never willing to make sacrifices. That was why they despised Tsunade, the "princess," and joined forces with their old friend Danzo to betray her and push him into the Hokage seat.

Did Tsunade not know all of this? Did she not know the higher-ups were supporting Danzo? How could she not?

Therefore, when he heard Tsunade say she harbored no resentment, Nagato felt that this person was truly remarkable. This was another reason he was willing to put in the effort to win her over.

Just imagine: the Senju clan fought for Konoha until only Tsunade remained, and Konoha itself was built entirely on the strength of the Senju clan. The current advisors of Konoha, including Danzo, were all raised by her great-uncle, who was even willing to sacrifice his own life so these old fossils could survive. And what reward did the Senju clan get? Nothing but blatant betrayal. Danzo even spoke ill of Hashirama Senju right in front of Tsunade without a thought for whether he was worthy. It was clear these people had long since lost their minds for the sake of power.

That Tsunade could maintain a healthy state of mind after being betrayed so despicably by such a group of people—this kind of kind personality was exactly what Nagato valued most about her.

From initially trying to influence Tsunade's mindset with the sacrifices of Jiraiya and Itachi to reduce her resistance to joining the Akatsuki, to revealing that Konoha had already chosen a Sixth Hokage and mentioning the Uchiha revenge to hint at Konoha's corruption, to threatening her with violence by saying he would help Sasuke attack Konoha and slaughter its villagers, and finally "generously" agreeing to provide her with all the Akatsuki's intelligence—all of these were tactics Nagato used to win her over.

He had truly exhausted his schemes to persuade Tsunade to join the Akatsuki, and even the lack of seriousness he feigned (was it really feigned?) was just to lower her guard.

The final result, while not entirely satisfactory, was at least acceptable. Picking up a private tutor for free—that was a pretty good outcome, right?

With this pleasant mood, Nagato walked further and further away, disappearing from Tsunade's field of vision.

Not long after, Konan finished her self-introduction after swapping identities with Tsunade, and incidentally answered a few of Tsunade's questions.

"Ahem! Ahem!" Just as Konan was about to turn and leave, Tsunade cleared her throat loudly, signaling toward the dirty plates on the table with her eyes.

"Hm? Are you asking me to find someone to come and clean this up?" Confusion appeared in Konan's eyes.

Tsunade was deeply dissatisfied and glared at her.

"Oh..." Konan finally understood. "The chef took the logistics ninjas to buy ingredients; they should be back soon to prepare the meal and bring it over."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes in satisfaction and waved her hand, signaling that Konan could leave. Taking this apprentice was definitely worth it.

Konan walked out of the room with a light step, somewhat puzzled by what Tsunade was so happy about. She hadn't intended to let Tsunade go hungry, had she? After thinking about it, she decided that since she was going to learn ninjutsu from Tsunade, she should express a bit more goodwill and go to the logistics department to hurry them along with the food.

A few minutes later, the Amegakure Ninja who had just finished scrubbing the largest iron pot and was preparing to stir-fry heard the news that Angel was urging them to hurry for those two, and he shed bitter tears.

He let out a roar, grabbed his spatula, and began to struggle amidst the cooking fumes!

Dish after dish of food began to be delivered by the Amegakure Ninjas from the kitchen to the two big eaters.

Tsunade and Hinata caught the aroma of the food and both broke into smiles. Then, they couldn't help but look at each other, and it seemed as if electric sparks were flashing in the air...

I won't lose to you! The look in both their eyes conveyed the exact same meaning.

Then, like undefeated generals at the dining table, the two of them solemnly picked up their chopsticks at the same time.

"Chomp, chomp..."

Accompanied by the sound of frantic chewing, the pile of dirty plates in front of these two began to grow higher once again.

The Amegakure Ninjas responsible for logistics watched this terrifying scene, their faces turning from green to purple, and finally a dark, sickly shade.

They say that people from the Land of Rain like to cry, but right now they really weren't shedding tears; it was just that the rain was gradually becoming so heavy that I couldn't see you, and by the time it clears up, will you two be eating any slower?